Western Chester County Chamber members hear of growth plans

Members attending the Western Chester County Chamber of Commerce’s annual Economic Forecast Breakfast Thursday heard about plans for growth coming to the region through expanding small businesses.

David Sciocchetti, urban development consultant for the Chester County Development Council, gave a presentation he titled “There’s Something Happening Here.” The event took place at the Development Council headquarters in Uwchlan.

As the county is still recovering from five years of recession, expectations may have changed for business professionals.

“There’s a continuing focus on sustainability. I think economic development and growth have a role in sustainability,” he said.

Sciocchetti observed that with the emphasis on balanced budgets, the proposed solutions are usually either tax increases or service cuts.

“I would argue there is a third avenue – expand the tax base,” he said.

Growth is coming in projects like the Coatesville Train Station, but there are still issues with unemployment and underemployment.

“Let’s get out ahead of the change that’s coming,” Sciocchetti concluded.

Ed Piscapo, regional director of economic development for PECO Energy, gave his forecast for the area, and sees positive things for small business growth. Because there are available office and industrial spaces, he believes new companies to the area will more likely be looking at existing space than building new facilities.

Piscapo’s statistics show Chester County office space has a 10 percent vacancy rate while the rate in Philadelphia is 18 percent.

“We’re low, but we’re historically higher than we have been,” Piscapo said.

As for industrial space, the county has a 6.7 percent vacancy rate totaling 37 million square feet, a figure that is also historically high for Chester County.

“I’m not expecting speculative development. In my opinion the market dynamics are not there yet,” he said.

Piscapo said the region is fortunate to have AccelorMittal in Coatesville, Sikorsky in Sadsbury and CTDI in East Goshen, but cautioned that the chances of another major corporation of that size coming to the area is not likely, though the region could be a good location for a data center.

“They don’t necessarily add a lot of employment, but they add to the tax base,” he said.

Meanwhile, the potential for growth among small businesses is good.

“We certainly have a solid base and these companies will expand as the market gets better,” Piscapo said.

An example of how a small business can grow was illustrated by speaker Brenda McNeil, communications director for Waste Oil Recyclers. The Modena-based firm was formed in 2006 by three individuals, and now has 25 employees and 2,000 clients. The company collects used cooking oil to send to refineries to be processed into biodiesel fuel.

“It’s a very creative group of people,” McNeil said. “There are 25 jobs that six years ago did not exist. We want Modena to be on the map. We want commerce in Modena going forward.”

The other speaker for the morning was Bernie Beegle, geologist and principal for Advanced Geo Services. Beegle warned of upcoming changes in the requirements for environmental site assessments and ground water regulations.

More stringent requirements in those two fields could have significant impact on new construction. “These are real issues going forward for land development,” Beegle said.